Exploring participatory place development: the case of Oudlajan Bazaar regeneration

Purpose Public participation as a collaborative and deliberative conception of the planning process could enhance the accountability, viability, feasibility and effectiveness of place developments by consensual decision-making. Despite persistent scholarly discussions and practical complex challenges surrounding inclusive and cocreative development mechanisms, formulating regeneration governance that adopts participatory processes and initiatives remains a prevalent issue. Therefore, this study aims to theoretically conceptualize public participation through three constructs, including inclusiveness structures (IS), information exchange (IE) and sense of ownership (SO), further scrutinized by ten variables, and empirically evaluates it in Oudlajan Bazaar regeneration as an ostensible participatory practice. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was used to focus on the variables of the triple constructs of public participation with regard to the marketers. Their views were also explored through qualitative content analysis. To aggregate the variables and reach the status of each construct, the analytic hierarchy process logic was applied for pairwise comparisons, using the expert judgments following the Saaty Scale and the geometric mean. The scholars who collaborated in the weighing process were identified by the purposive snowball sampling. Finally, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to analyze the significant relationships. Findings The results indicate that the marketers neither agree nor disagree with IS, disagree with IE and neither agree nor disagree with SO. The groups involved in the regeneration process, including the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism and the Municipality, believe the activities have been successful. However, the marketers, who are the project’s key stakeholders, do not share this mentality, serving primarily as a showcase to legitimize the interventions or as an induced procedure initiated by the municipal authorities. From the marketers’ view, compulsion, deception, stagnation, disregard, prolongation and abandonment are the main shortcomings of the Oudlajan Bazaar regeneration. Practical implications Indeed, in an ostensibly participatory yet gentrified place development such as the Oudlajan Bazaar regeneration, the primary responsibilities among the leading players often remain unchanged, while the truly affected groups are excluded. In this way, public participation becomes a rhetorical slogan and a symbolic concept used by the municipal government to expedite the development process. It devolves into superficial transactions and technical workflows rather than mediated interactions and discussions aimed at inclusivity and integrity. Accordingly, actual power remains concentrated in the hands of the central government, politicians and professionals, with participation serving merely as a means to fulfill their agendas. Originality/value The findings and their implications appear to help bridge the gap between public participation as a means to achieve political and professional intentions and as an end to activate multiple interested stakeholders. Public participation is challenging and could be realistically achieved by simultaneously considering all influential aspects due to their strong interrelationships. Hence, future theoretical and empirical research is suggested to analyze stakeholders’ perceptions, motivations and expectations regarding participatory place development and to scrutinize its aspects across different project phases.